Man Freed From Jail Over Bite-Mark Evidence

A man imprisoned for 28 years for the killing of two people in Dallas has been released after analysis of bite-marks found on one of the victim's bodies was overturned.

Steven Mark Chaney was sentenced to life in prison after a dentist told a Dallas County jury in 1989 there was a one in a million chance someone else had made the marks found on the body of John Sweek.

State District Judge Dominique Collins overturned the 59-year-old's conviction after a request from Dallas County District Attorney Susan Hawk, The Innocence Project and the Dallas County Public Defender's Office.

He will remain free while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reviews the findings.

Chaney said: "I could sit and recount all the wrongs. The loss of my oldest stepson, my oldest grandchild two years ago, but this is a time for rejoicing and not recounting."

At least one of the jurors after Chaney's conviction said the bite evidence convinced her he was guilty, despite evidence from nine witnesses who said they had spent time with him on the day of the killings and could not have been at John and Sally Sweek's home when they died in 1987.

Forensic scientists have raised doubts about the reliability of bite-mark evidence.

In 2009, the National Academy of Sciences published a report which found there was insufficient scientific basis to conclusively match bite marks.

The Texas Forensic Science Commission is reviewing cases which involved bite analysis to secure a conviction to determine whether they warrant further investigation.

Defence lawyers also claim prosecutors knowingly presented false evidence that blood was found on Chaney's shoe and say prosecutors elicited false testimony from a co-worker of Chaney.

His legal team has filed court papers saying the new evidence establishes he is innocent.

The district attorney has not commented on whether he is innocent, but concluded he did not receive a fair trial.

Julie Less, exoneration attorney for the Dallas County Public Defender's Office, said: "We're confident that when the re-investigation is complete, the district attorney's office will be in a position to formally agree that he is innocent of this crime."